Saudis invest big in US weapons, AI as Trump basks in welcome • FRANCE 24 English

[Music] The view from inside Air Force One as the US presidential plane approached Riyad. Saudi Air Force fighter jets, F-15s built by an American firm accompanying Donald Trump. A welcome with a display of military might and a precursor of new deals. The first stop of Trump’s tour of Gulf States was all about investment. A big part of that, a huge Saudi order for US weapons. You know, nobody makes military equipment like us. We have the best military equipment, the best missiles, the best rockets, the best everything, best submarines, by the way, most lethal weapon in the world. And Saudi Arabia says it’s buying $142 billion worth, which Trump called the biggest ever arms deal. It’s far from the first. Riad has been a major customer for US weaponry, though concerns over human rights violations at home and abroad have in the past put a halt to some sales. No such concerns in Riyad on Tuesday. And the investment pledges go well beyond weapons. Saudi Arabia is set to pump $600 billion into American companies over the next four years in the AI, energy, health, sport, and other sectors. Evidence of the country’s ever closer ties. We are meeting to deepen this strategic partnership from an economy based on natural resources to one based on the diversification of income, knowledge, and innovation. This partnership has been one of the most important pillars of our economic relations. This is the first foreign tour of Trump’s second term. Saudi Arabia was also his first stop in his first term. It upends the tradition of an opening visit to neighbors Canada or Mexico or to a historic ally like the UK. Oh, what I do for the crown prince. One sign of Trump’s focus on building new alliances with the strongman leaders he’s trying to emulate.

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday promised billions of dollars in deals with the United States from defence to artificial intelligence as it threw a lavish welcome for President Donald Trump on the first state visit of his second term. FRANCE 24’s Siobhan Silke reports.
#SaudiArabia #Trump #business

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5 comments
  1. the same pledge of APPLE to make iPhones in Arizona 6 years ago.
    Its now fully empty.

    Maybe its just a "figure of speech"

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